Graphic Design and 2D/3D Animation Skills As a Career Option in India
Youth unemployment in India is a significant challenge, with millions of young people struggling to find stable and meaningful work. As of 2023, India’s youth unemployment rate stood at around 23%, reflecting the difficulty many young job seekers face in securing employment. This issue is particularly severe among those aged 15-24, where the unemployment rate is often double the national average.
Despite the country’s large working-age population, which is expected to reach 1 billion by 2030, job creation has not kept pace with the increasing number of graduates entering the workforce each year.
One of the promising digital sectors is the Graphic Design & Animation industry. Between the traditional Graphic Design and 2D/3D Animation jobs, the future belongs to Animation-related jobs.
When it comes to the number of jobs, across India, Graphic design jobs form 80% of all digital media jobs when analysing Graphic Design & Animation jobs. Please refer to the graph below.
Job Distribution between Graphic Design & 2D/3D Animation jobs across India.
(Data sourced from Indeed India on November 2024)
The Animation & VFX sector is expected to create over 160,000 jobs annually, with 2 million new jobs anticipated by 2030. A National Centre Of Excellence For Animation has been approved by the Indian Cabinet to be set up in Mumbai, on the lines of IIM/IIT.
India’s Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR) Promotion Task Force has submitted a plan to the Government of India calling for training 70,000 school teachers in the AVGC sector, with classes for middle and high school students, as well as undergraduate courses in animation, visual effects, graphic design, and digital filmmaking, among other specialities.
If you are a young job seeker in India in the AVGC-XR sector, one of the things you need to be prepared to do is to move where the jobs are. The distribution of jobs across the country is unequal as can be seen from the chart below.
Interestingly, states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Karnataka account for over 27% of the total Graphic Design jobs available across India. On the other end of the spectrum, states such as Meghalaya, Jammu and Kashmir, and Manipur collectively offer less than 1% of these opportunities, highlighting a significant concentration of design roles in a few key regions
Also, It’s fascinating to note that more than 40% of animation jobs in India are concentrated in states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala. In contrast, states such as Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, and Meghalaya collectively contribute to less than 1% of these opportunities, underscoring the significant regional disparity in the availability of design roles.
Job Distribution for Graphic Design & 2D/3D Animation jobs across India.
(Data sourced from Indeed India on November 2024)
Moving out of a home town comes with the high cost of rent, commuting, learning to cook on your own or paying for cooked meals. There are real challenges for many young people in India.
Salary Distribution by Job Type for Graphic Design Students
Salary Distribution by Job Type for Animation Students
In most cases, the average Graphic Design & Animation jobs pay less than the average of all jobs across India listed on India in Nov 2024.
| Job type | Average Salary Range for all occupations | Average Salary Range for Graphic Design Jobs | Average Salary Range for Animation Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
Full-time | ₹ 24,167 | ₹ 21,667 ( -10.34% ) | ₹ 22,500 ( -6.90% ) |
Part-Time | ₹ 21,667 | ₹ 13,333 ( -38.46% ) | ₹ 20,833 ( -3.85% ) |
Internship | ₹ 32,500 | ₹ 10,000 ( -69.23% ) | ₹ 12,500 ( -61.54% ) |
Contract | ₹ 60,833 | ₹ 19,167 ( -68.49% ) | ₹ 30,833 ( -49.32% ) |
Fresher | ₹ 11,667 | ₹ 12,500 ( +7.14% ) | ₹ 11,667 |
Temporary | ₹ 35,833 | ₹ 20,000 ( -44.19% ) | ₹ 30,000 ( -16.28% ) |
It is also worth noticing that a significant part of the jobs posted require a good amount of familiarity with the English language. For many young Indians, especially from the hinterland, this is a challenge. All the 10,000 jobs analysed specified “English” as a requirement.
If such a career in Grahic Design, 2D/3D Animation and VFX intrigues you, please reach out to us and inquire about our courses.
We, at Career Engine offer a unique combination of:
- In person or remote (live) classes
- Hands on projects that help you produce material you can show and impress employers
- Teach in Hindi or Punjabi so that you understand the skill